Date & Time:
Nov 18, 1980 at 0725 LT
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 747-200
Operator:
Registration:
HL7445
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Los Angeles – Anchorage – Seoul
MSN:
21773
YOM:
1979
Flight number:
KE015
Country:
South Korea
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
13
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
213
Pax fatalities:
8
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
14
Circumstances:
Following an uneventful flight from Los Angeles via Anchorage, the crew started the approach to Seoul-Gimpo Airport in the early morning, just after sunset. On final to runway 14, with a limited visibility of 1,000 meters due to patches of fog, the crew failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the airplane landed 90 meters short of runway threshold. Then the aircraft struck a concrete wall, causing all main gears to be torn off or to pushed back in their respective wheel well, except the nose gear which remained intact. The airplane slid on its belly for about 1,200 metres before coming to rest in flames on the left side of the runway. 14 occupants escaped uninjured while 198 others were injured. Unfortunately, eight passengers and six crew members, among them both pilots, were killed. The aircraft was destroyed by a fire that probably ignited in a cargo compartment.
Probable cause:
Wrong approach configuration on part of the flying crew who continued the approach below the glide without any visual contact with the ground until the airplane struck the ground short of runway.
